Category Archives for Airlines.
American Airlines today has increased first check bag fees on flights between North American (or Central or South America) and Europe on basic economy fares from $60 to $75.
American is out with a new video, You Are Why We Fly. That’s not one of American’s new slogans (e.g. “caring for people on life’s journey”) but does harken back to one of the airline’s more important messages of the past: we know why you fly.
‘You are why we fly’ speaks to why they keep going in the face of unprecedented challenges, why they continue the business with fares so low and planes so empty, why employees travel from place to place and continue to interact with customers at the airport and on board even in the face of the global pandemic.
The airline bailout provided cash to continue to pay employees. They aren’t allowed to involuntarily lay off employees or reduce rates of pay through September 30. However one U.S. airline found a workaround: requiring unpaid time off. That way they keep the money to protect shareholders at the expense of employees.
It appears these account shutdowns were based on a belief that they could be the victim of hacking. In this case, accounts that were suspected to have been hacked are being replaced by brand new accounts with miles transferred – though apparently the transfer of elite status, systemwide upgrades, and the like is not instantaneous.
Norwegian’s failure was one of 10 things I told you to expect from the coronavirus crisis. They’re now putting four subsidiaries which employ crew into bankruptcy and terminating other staffing agreements. They’re blaming the choice on which companies to put into bankruptcy on lack of subsidies by the governments of Sweden and Denmark.
Virgin Australia is entering ‘voluntary administration’, the Australian equivalent to bankruptcy that envisions continued operation in some form. This follows the country’s government declining to extend a bailout of approximately US$892 million.
Until there’s a vaccine life may not return truly to normal. We may be asked to social distance. We may be asked to wear masks. And many countries may have restrictions in place on who can visit, and what documents are required to do so.
However the world will – hopefully – begin returning to some semblance of normal in the coming months, having bought time to expand testing, expand health care capacity to deal with a potential influx of patients, and perhaps most importantly doctors and researchers will have learned much about how to treat patients with the virus.
Where will be safe to go? Where will we be able to go?
The new American Airlines safety video certainly would have been released by now if not for the current global pandemic. It features the airline’s new uniform. Seeing this gives me a sense of normalcy.
Starting Monday at noon Eastern Canada will begin requiring face masks for air travel.
Possession of a mask will have to be demonstrated during the check-in process for all international flights departing Canada or flying to Canada. (That will require physical check-in). Masks must be worn going through Canadian security checkpoints (to protect security screeners). And worn whenever a passenger can’t be physically distanced from others.
The king of Thailand, Maha Vajiralongkorn, is self-quarantining in Germany with a harem of 20 women and servants.
His country has had a ban on international flights in place, and Thai Airways has suspended passenger operations. Nonetheless the national carrier operated Bangkok – Munich service, including a tag flight between Switzerland and Germany.. so that the king could attend a dinner party, and then once again flee the country with a stop to see his wife before returning to the German Alps.
Gary Leff is one of the foremost experts in the field of miles, points, and frequent business travel -- a topic he has covered since 2002.
Co-founder of frequent flyer community InsideFlyer.com, emcee of the Freddie Awards, and named one of the "World's Top Travel Experts" by Conde' Nast Traveler (2010-Present) Gary has been a guest on most major news media, profiled in several top print publications, and published broadly on the topic of consumer loyalty. More About Gary »
